Beer news in nyc

From January, 2012

Monday night the Brooklyn Brewery added another well-balanced and delicious beer to its Brewmaster’s Reserve Series: Mary’s Maple Porter. In proper fashion, the brewery chose to craft this new beer for the winter at an easy drinking (possibly too easy) 7.5% ABV. The beer is named after quality control employee Mary Wiles, who contributed the maple syrup, what Garrett Oliver called “Mary’s secret life of trees.” It comes from her family farm, Cedarvale Maple Syrup Co., in upstate NY. Oliver and his team showed great restraint in keeping the maple sweetness in check (thanks to their house yeast) and balancing it…

A lot is made of the comparative food pairing abilities of beer and wine. It is often noted by beer people that beer has enormous room for growth in the pairing department as more chefs and diners become aware of the merits of having quality beer with their food. Obviously this runs into the traditional territory of the wine world, well known for having talented sommeliers and the ubiquitous wine and cheese event. The Tour de France restaurant group is taking advantage by bringing beer and wine pairings to their fifth annual winter cheese event on February 9 at 404 10th…

A recent area of interest in craft beer has been the concept of beer cocktails. Sometimes it’s hard to find good ones but they can be delicious and intriguing. This weekend Jimmy’s No. 43 will be hosting the Beer Cocktail Brunch Off where a handful of bartenders and beer experts like Chris O’Leary of Brew York, New York and Chris Cuzme of Wandering Star, will showcase their creations. Ingredients include Tobasco sauce, raspberry puree, and even a pickled oyster. Tickets are $35 and the event runs from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, January 28.

For a craft beer lover, it’s a pretty great feeling to meet someone resistant to different styles of beer – or beer at all – and be able to convert them with a taste. For husband and wife team Emily and Matt Garland, this is part of their job. They own and operate Tapped Craft Beer Events, offering private beer tastings. “Most of the people we reach are not craft beer people,” said Matt. “We’re getting totally untouched people,” added Emily. “We want to expand the craft beer community through our events.” The idea for Tapped came about when they…

Of course, you may already know about Earl’s because you were there tonight. Which, judging by the crowd, was all of you. So this is not so much a recommendation as a love letter. Because we cannot believe we had not been there before tonight (really, we’ve been meaning to go for months now, since we met one of the owners, Michael Cesari, at Cafe D’Alsace). Earl’s was just rated by Draft Magazine as one America’s top beer bars. Tonight on tap was Bronx Pale Ale, Left Hand Wake up the Dead, Smutty Note Robust Porter, Cape Ann’s Navigator. Some…

Four months after coming together for an Oktoberfest themed beer dinner, The Vanderbilt and Sixpoint brewery are collaborating again on a pork-themed dinner on February 7. Jeff Gorlechen, a Sixpoint Founder, and Sean Redmond, a Sixpoint brewer and former bartender at the Vanderbilt, will lead guests through the tasting and answer questions about the pairings. The pairings should be interesting, with dishes like pork belly with brussels sprout kimchi paired with Spontaneous Construction, and banana donuts with candied bacon paired with Gorilla Warfare Porter. Here is the final list of pairings: Shellfish & Tasso Salad – apple, fennel, celery, jicama,…

We are jumping back into ‘Pick of the Weekend’ with some big beers to help you get through the snowy weekend. Brouwerij Lane, on Greenpoint Ave. in Brooklyn, will be hosting a Barleywine and Strong Ale tasting Friday through Sunday. The flight will include some rare heavy hitters and span American and British styles. Here is their impressive list: Firestone Walker XV A blend of 79% Barleywine, 19% imperial stout, 5% double IPA 12.5% The Bruery Cuir 3rd anniversary blend of the previous two anniversary ales 14.5% ABV BFM/Terrapin Spike and Jerome’s: A sour barleywine aged in rum barrels 12%…

The Bronx Brewery has embraced its position as an emerging business in the Bronx by helping support organizations like the Friends of Van Cortland Park and the Kingsbridge Armory. In December the brewery donated a keg for the Friends of Van Cortland Park event at the Bronx Ale House, while this Thursday $4 pints of the Bronx Pale Ale at Amity Hall in Manhattan will help support the building of the Kingsbridge Armory Velodrome. Their efforts have not gone unnoticed. In December the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation and the Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz named the brewery among the…

If you follow us on Twitter you may have noticed that we made out like bandits on Christmas with beer gifts. Family members, secret santas, and friends from far away places showered us with beer for the holidays. We got some old favorites like Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout and some local brews like Ommegang Seduction. Thanks to our friend Hanna we received some great Midwest beers, brews we long for but cannot partake of in NYC. We were very happy to get the beer, but were also impressed at how much thoughtfulness was put into each gift. None were a random assortment. If…

“I fell into beer by accident” Justin Philips says, “I was really into wine…someone had me try a few beers that totally changed the way I thought about beer.” Shortly thereafter he became a rep for B. United International, an importer that specializes in European and Japanese drinks. During his time at B. United, Justin traveled extensively and became familiar with many international specialty brewers. One look at the beer lists of Beer Table in Park Slope and Beer Table Pantry, the businesses Justin owns with his wife Tricia, and you can see the dividends of that experience, beers from Denmark and Italy…